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The original edition of 1996 contained ten Parts of ten extracts each. All the material that appeared in the first edition has been retained in full, but the volume has been substantially enlarged for this second edition.

In the first place, each of the existing Parts now contains two additional extracts, bringing the total number of extracts per Part to twelve instead of ten. The decision to use more modern material for these further extracts was relatively easy, not just because many philosophers and students find a special excitement in more recent developments, but also because philosophy is a living and constantly evolving subject, and it is important for those studying the Western philosophical tradition to be aware that it continues to develop. The roots and trunk of the old plant are immensely valuable in themselves, but also because they put forth fresh shoots. That said, the selection of the new, more recent, materials was far from easy, since unlike the great classics of the past, they have yet to prove their enduring worth; what is more, today’s philosophers are notoriously at odds about the relative importance of the proliferating current trends in the subject. I cannot hope to please everyone, but I have tried to select pieces that, firstly, will give some sense of where each of the respective branches of the subject is going, and, secondly, will stand some comparison with their august predecessors – either because since publication they have already achieved something of the status of instant classics, or else because they are at least worthy representatives of distinctive strands of philosophical inquiry that seem likely to endure.

As well as augmenting the existing Parts of the volume, I have also included two completely new Parts, each of twelve items, which (as noted above in the main Preface) brings the total number of extracts in the book as a whole to 144, in place of the original hundred. Dividing the spoils equally between ‘theoretical’ and ‘practical’ philosophy (to use a classification commonly employed in Philosophy departments in continental Europe), I have devoted these two new sections of the book to Philosophy of Language, and to the Meaning of Life respectively. The former is a subject that forms a vitally important part of the Western philosophical tradition, and one that many readers of the first edition expressed a strong interest in seeing included in any revised volume; the latter relates to one of philosophy’s oldest and most weighty preoccupations, eclipsed under the restrictive conception of philosophical inquiry that became fashionable around the middle of the twentieth century, but now happily reinstated.

I am most grateful to those many philosophical colleagues from around the world who were kind enough to let me know that they found the first edition of the book useful, and I am heavily indebted to a large number of friends and colleagues for invaluable suggestions about the composition of this new edition, and/or for comments on the new material. Particular thanks are due to Michaela Baker, Jonathan Dancy, Max de Gaynesford, Brian Feltham, Philip Goff, Brad Hooker, John Hyman, Ward Jones, Seán MacGiollarnath, David Oderberg, John Preston, Severin Schroeder, Philip Stratton-Lake, Daniel Whiting and Andrew Williams. Emma Borg was kind enough to cast an expert eye over the draft of Part III, and made many valuable suggestions for improvement, and Joseph Jedwab kindly did the same for Part VI, and Andrew Williams for Part X. I have a special debt to Javier Kalhat, whose judicious advice was an enormous help to me, and who also provided unstinting assistance in hunting down the relevant materials and making suggestions for abridgement. Bryan Weaver provided much appreciated help with the additions to Part IX. Finally, I should like to express my thanks to Nick Bellorini, the Commissioning Editor at Blackwell Publishers, for encouraging me to produce this second edition, and to all the members of the editorial and production team for their hard work and efficiency.

JC

Reading, England

April 2007